Traditional shuffleboard requires a lengthy playing field which has usually been demarcated on a floor, a paved surface or similar surfaces such as the decks of ships. Elongated tables on which shuffleboard is played have also been developed for use in game arcades or other indoor locations. Prior shuffleboard games have several characteristics which have tended to restrict their use and/or which have detracted from the player's enjoyment of the game.
Shuffleboard players slide play pieces along a playing field surface towards a scoring zone at the far end of the surface that is demarcated into areas of different score value. A player's score is determined by the sum of the score values of areas where the player's play pieces come to rest. As a matter of strategy competing player's may endeavor to dislodge an opponents play pieces from scoring areas. In conventional shuffleboard, motion of the play piece is gradually slowed by friction as it slides along the underlying surface. A skillful player must anticipate the rate at which such slowing will occur in order to cause the play piece to come to rest at an are a of high score value. Lengthy playing fields, typically at least 12 to 24 feet long, have been customary in order to make this operation sufficiently challenging to players.
It would be advantageous under many circumstances if the size of shuffleboard games could be kept to a minimum while retaining a high degree of challenge to the players. In commercial game arcades, for example, a shuffleboard table must compete for available space with a variety of other games.
Play pieces in conventional shuffleboard games are somewhat heavy in order to allow the player to impart sufficient momentum to the play piece to travel it along the full length of the playing field. The heavy play pieces abrade the surface of the playing field. This eventually interferes with smooth sliding of the play pieces and thereby detracts from the quality of the game. This complicates maintenance of the game as frequent resurfacing of the playing field may be needed to counteract the effect.
The shuffleboard playing field should be well illuminated in order to assure that field boundaries and demarcations on the field are clearly visible to players. Adequate lighting may not always be present at locations where it desired to situate a shuffleboard game. Some prior shuffleboard game tables resolve this problem by including lighting fixtures as a component of the table itself which fixtures are mounted on posts that extend upward at a side of the playing field. This makes the gaming apparatus still more bulky.
Shuffleboard tables typically have a scoreboard in the form of a display screen which indicates each players current score. Players enter their scores by operating electrical switch buttons. As in the case of lighting fixtures the scoreboards have typically been mounted on posts which extend upward at a side of the table thereby further contributing to the bulk of the gaming apparatus.
A major problem of prior shuffleboard games in commercial establishments that require entry of coins or other payment for a period of play has been playing or practicing of the game by persons who have not paid. This is possible as entry of coins at the table simply activates the electronic scoreboard display and the scoreboard is not a necessity for playing or practicing the game. Some prior shuffleboard tables address this problem by means of a row of pins which extend upward at the middle of the playing field. Deposit of a coin causes a temporary retraction of the pins.
Demarcations at the end regions of the playing field which separate the scoring zones into areas of different score value and numerals which indicate the score values have heretofore been permanently imprinted on the playing field surface. This limits any given shuffleboard game to a single form of play and a single scoring protocol.
Profitability of a gaming apparatus in commercial game arcades or the like is highly dependent on the ability of the game to attract the interest of potential players and to provide an exciting ambiance during playing of the game. Prior shuffleboard tables have been somewhat lacking in this respect.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems discussed above.